U.s. Carrier Heading For Persian Gulf

SOURCE: Associated Press. As a U.S. aircraft carrier steamed toward the Persian Gulf, the United States issued a fresh warning Monday that it is prepared to respond to any additional Iraqi intrusions into no-fly zones over that country.

After a U.S. fighter plane shot down an Iraqi MiG flying below the 32nd parallel on Sunday, the carrier Kitty Hawk was dispatched from Somali coastal waters to the Persian Gulf, according to Pentagon officials.

The Kitty Hawk had been transferred from the gulf area to waters off Somalia as part of the buildup of U.S. forces in Somalia earlier this month.

The carrier normally has about 70 combat aircraft aboard, along with 5,500 troops. The officials said the carrier is expected to arrive in the next day or two.

State Department press officer Joe Snyder said the Iraqi flight into the no-fly zone was ``part of a pattern of an Iraqi challenge`` to the U.S. and the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army daily Al-Qadassiyah called the Sunday incident

``blatant aggression and a flagrant provocation`` by the U.S.-led allies.

The UN Security Council imposed the no-fly zone in southern Iraq last August to protect Iraqi Shiites against aerial attacks by Saddam Hussein`s forces. The United States and its gulf allies also have instituted a no-fly zone in northern Iraq to help defend the Kurdish minority.

Snyder noted that humanitarian relief convoys to assist the Kurdish population have been suspended since a large number of trucks were damaged or destroyed by Iraqi-planted bombs several weeks ago.

The UN was seeking Monday to organize a relief convoy to northern Iraq despite concerns of Turkish drivers for their security, Snyder said. He was unable to say whether the attempt was successful. The Kurds have been almost totally reliant on outside assistance for their survival since Saddam`s forces crushed a Kurdish insurrection in March 1991.